Born in El Dorado, Kan., to Howard Edgar Allen and Gladys Smith Allen, Melva was the youngest of 11 children.

She grew up in Lahoma, Okla., raised by her mother after her father left in 1929, to seek work.
Melva attended first through 12th grade in Lahoma, graduating from Lahoma High School in 1945, one of 13 class members. she was eligible for a War Time teaching certificate following a brief training course at Phillips University in Enid.